Not the Usual Kind of Shopping

Last Saturday night, Paul and I went to the one-year anniversary gala of the (despite the name of the gala) recently opened Parkview Green Fangcaodi, an office and retail space in the center of town. Basically, yes, you could say that we went to a giant Mall Party. :-) We were invited by some friends of the China Greentech Initiative, which had recently opened up their new office space inside Parkview. (Thank you Greentech!)

I am not a huge shopper and I have now discovered that--really--the best use for these spaces is to just turn them into a gigantic party platform. Those mall spaces are the perfect dance arena. It's probably very environmentally sound as well: using the retail space at night and pouring all that shopping anxiety into one crazy party!

The event even included performances by Cirque du Soleil performers, followed by two DJ's getting the crowd on its feet.

Crazy space.

Cirque du Soleil performers hanging from the ceiling.

Paul checks out a brand-new Tesla electric car -- about to be released on the China market. (Yes, there were actual shops in the building too.)

 

Snazzy shoe shop.

 
The Mall was designed to look like an outside space, kind of a city square with buildings around it.

 
The show and the DJ's were in the city square...

(I'll let the art speak for itself.)

[...]

Even great parties are followed by a 9:00am game on Sundays....

In het Nederlands: Afgelopen zaterdag waren we bij een openingsfeestje van een groot winkelcentrum in downtown Beijing. Het complex was al een aantal maanden open, maar dit was toch een beetje het openings feest. Ik kom niet zo vaak in de shopping malls hier--als je het mij vraagt zijn ze allemaal super groot, te luxe, ongezellig en onhandig--maar dit vond ik toch wel een heel leuke manier om in zo'n mall te zijn. :-) . We waren uitgenodigd door vrienden die in deze ruimte hun kantoor hebben. Het was een superleuk dansfeest...maar de volgende ochtend stond ik wel al weer vroeg langs de lijn!